By: Barrientos S.C.R. No. 167 SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 1-1 WHEREAS, The Legislature of the State of Texas is especially 1-2 proud to honor the O. Henry Museum in Austin for providing cultural 1-3 and educational programs for the citizens of Texas; and 1-4 WHEREAS, The O. Henry World Championship Pun-Off, in its 18th 1-5 year, is the museum's oldest event and is held on the first Sunday 1-6 of May; the event attracts some 2,000 spectators and participants 1-7 from all parts of the United States; it was featured on ABC's World 1-8 News Tonight program in 1993 and is often broadcast on national and 1-9 international radio; and 1-10 WHEREAS, The museum is housed in the Victorian home of 1-11 William Sidney Porter, a turn of the century writer of short 1-12 stories that have become American classics; known by his pen name, 1-13 O. Henry, Porter lived in Austin from 1885 to 1895 and worked as a 1-14 draftsman at the Old General Land Office; he married an Austin 1-15 girl, Athol Estes, and the young couple lived in the small cottage 1-16 with their children; and 1-17 WHEREAS, Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, 1-18 the house escaped demolition in 1934 and was moved to Brush Square 1-19 where it opened as the O. Henry Museum; operated under the City of 1-20 Austin Parks and Recreation Department, the museum houses nearly 1-21 800 artifacts of which one-third are directly related to O. Henry 1-22 and 1-23 WHEREAS, While living in the house, William Porter published 2-1 a weekly newspaper, the Rolling Stone, which featured short stories 2-2 depicting life in Austin during the late 1800s; an original 2-3 publication of the newspaper, first edition O. Henry books, family 2-4 photographs, original documents, textiles, and other family 2-5 memorabilia are among the museum's collections; and 2-6 WHEREAS, O. Henry Museum sponsors Opportunity For Youth 2-7 Writing Clubs for inner-city youth to stimulate creativity in 2-8 writing for aspiring young students; over 2,000 such youth have 2-9 benefitted from these workshops which offer the talents of many 2-10 accomplished authors; participants learn different literary styles 2-11 including poetry, biography, scriptwriting, and playwriting as well 2-12 as cartoon drawing; and 2-13 WHEREAS, In recognition of its outstanding achievement and 2-14 its commitment to excellence and hard work in providing the O. 2-15 Henry Opportunity For Youth Writing Clubs, the O. Henry Museum 2-16 received a Texas Historical Commission Museum Award; the museum was 2-17 also recognized with the National Dorothy Mullen Arts and 2-18 Humanities Award from the National Recreation and Park Association 2-19 and has received three graphic art awards for excellence in 2-20 publication design: the Sheila Y. Fox Award from the Texas Arts 2-21 Council and two Mitchell A. Wilder Awards from the Texas 2-22 Association of Museums; now, therefore, be it 2-23 RESOLVED, That the 74th Legislature of the State of Texas 2-24 hereby congratulate the O. Henry Museum on its 18th Annual World 2-25 Championship Pun-Off and commend it for its Youth Writing Clubs for 3-1 Austin's inner-city youth; and, be it further 3-2 RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution be prepared for the 3-3 museum as an expression of the appreciation and high regard of the 3-4 Texas Senate.